BY SIMONE J. SMITH
Ring…
You avert your eyes from the screen to pick up your phone. Christmas is done, so it is business as usual. You complete your phone and then check to see who has messaged you. This is a part of your day-to-day life, and you are not sitting there thinking who is at the bottom of the food chain when you look at brand names like: iPhone, Samsung, Tesla, let’s just say all of them?
Well, over the years, there have been international discussions between governments and human rights groups about the human right atrocities endured by cobalt miners.
Cobalt was once a little-known metal that is useful in the production of lithium-ion batteries, which are used to power smartphones and other digital devices. This metal is sourced from mines all over the globe, including the U.S., but the world’s largest reserves of cobalt are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Central African nation whose economy is heavily reliant on the mining industry.
Research at five of the biggest cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo has exposed widespread labour exploitation and workers’ rights abuses. Poor working conditions and out-dated practices, which not only make for unhappy workers, but also for inefficient operations, that negatively affect cobalt mining in the Congo. It’s a complex issue that the Congolese government has been unable to tackle successfully.
Historically, large, industrial, company-run cobalt mines have received less scrutiny. Workers, all of whom requested anonymity due to concerns over company retaliation, described working long hours with limited food and water for pay that often does not cover living expenses.
They speak to being treated like second-class citizens, with those directly employed earning pay and benefits far superior to their own low pay. Many of the workers said they were in despair, unable to pull themselves and their families out of poverty.
They have no industrial tools, no protective clothing, and no hard hats, not even facemasks to shield toxic dust or shoes, yet here they are searching for cobalt, the rare-earth metal powering the mobile revolution.
The other danger is that they are exposed to a near invisible poison, cobalt dust, which can cause fatal hard metal lung disease. Work hours are long, and miners labour in tunnels that are not properly supported. Rainfall can cause large areas of cobalt mines to suddenly collapse. At least 80 artisanal miners died underground in the Democratic Republic of Congo between September 2014 and December 2015, and the bodies of children and adults alike were left buried in the rubble.
So, the question now is why are the world’s largest consumer brands willing to buy cobalt under such circumstances?
A large part of the problem is a lack of traceability along the supply chain – and the involvement of unethical third parties. A significant proportion of cobalt from the Congo is sold to Chinese traders and smelters, who are often more concerned with price than with ethics.
So, even though many big brand companies claim to have a zero-tolerance policy towards child labour, cobalt somehow seems to be the exception to the rule.
This is something to think about the next time you check your phone.
